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to be held in Sacramento in September, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and immediately set myself to work and erected two looms, and succeeded in presenting at the State Fair a sample of silk dress goods made by my own hands, and was presented with a diploma and silver goblet for my enterprise in producing such work.

I also presented a sample of the same kind of goods at the Stockton Fair in the same year, and other places within this State. I may also state that I received a diploma from Contra Costa for my exhibition of silk manufacture.

On my return from the Fairs to San Francisco, I completed a dress pattern, and extended an invitation to the members of the press and to merchants in the silk line of business in San Francisco, so that they might examine my work, and they pronounced it good; and from that time the members of the press have aided me as much as lay in their power.

In January, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, I hired a show window on Montgomery street, San Francisco, for the purpose of exhibiting to the public my fabrics of silk from the cocoons to the finishing of the dresses, and for which I was under very heavy expense. My means being exhausted, I made an effort to induce capitalists to assist me, but I am sorry to say that in spite of all my efforts, I could not succeed in getting any person to invest in the business. It is well known that our capitalists in California do not invest one dollar unless they can be sure of getting a return on their capital invested of three dollars to one, and that immediately.

In June, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, I succeeded in getting a party to assist me in incorporating a company with a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and for some reason that will not do for me at the present time to state, the speculation fell to the ground.

In September, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, I again presented at the State Fair held at Sacramento all the silk manufactured by me in this State; also a loom erected by me, and wove silk in the presence of the public, and a reeling machine invented by me for the purpose of reeling silk from the cocoons, and for which exhibition I was presented with forty dollars for my efforts in this line of business. The society also, as an appreciation of my efforts and the importance of the enter prise, gave me one hundred and fifty dollars to cover in part my expenses. I gave the same exhibition at the Stockton and San Jose Fairs. the former place I received seventy-five dollars and a gold medal, and at the latter place the sum of fifteen dollars as premiums.

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Through these efforts made by me I again succeeded in attracting the attention of other capitalists, who proposed to raise a small capital of fifty thousand dollars, in order to give me the opportunity of prosecuting my designs; but before I could have an opportunity of displaying to them my capabilities, this speculation also fell to the ground.

Through these capitalists declining to assist me my enterprise would have been abandoned, if my attention had not been turned to the foundation of the present Mechanics' Pioneer Silk Manufacturing Company of this State, incorporated in accordance with the laws of California, the capital stock of which amounts to one hundred thousand dollars. Two thousand shares of fifty dollars each, to be paid in small instalments, which will take fourteen months ere the capital stock (if the whole of the stock is taken) will be paid up. After two and a half months labor we have only fifteen thousand dollars of the capital stock taken, and that

chiefly by men of small means; and I am fully confident that it will take us six months more before we can get another fifteen thousand dollars subscribed, unless the State will fix a premium as an inducement for capital to come in, as it will require at least eighty thousand dollars to get the factory into operation.

I am also very much afraid that unless the present Legislature take some steps to help this matter along, this will prove a failure, and California will lose its opportunity of having a silk factory for many years

to come.

As a further proof to you of the pains I have taken to carry this valuable enterprise into effect, I will minutely describe what I have been doing up to the present time.

I have manufactured a hundred yards of silk dress goods, each and every yard of which cost me, at the least calculation, fifteen dollars per yard. I then cut the same into small pieces and distributed them among the public of this State, for the purpose of enlightening them upon this subject. I bound myself to deliver to the Mechanics' Pioneer Silk Manufacturing Company, which I have before alluded to, the machinery, looms and property, at a cost of about two thousand five hundred dollars less than my outlay for the same; and lastly, I have devoted three years of hard labor and study into the bargain.

Considering myself a public benefactor, I trust that your honorable body will not for one moment imagine that I have laid this matter before you in the hope of deriving any pecuniary benefit, so far as I am concerned, as I am convinced that so soon as a silk manufactory will be in operation in this State, time alone will compensate me for all my endeavors. I wish now to call your attention to the silk prospectus prepared by myself, and which you will find attached hereto, and by a close examination of which you will find the most interesting points in regard to silk culture and manufacture:

ESSAY.

[Extract from the Sacramento Daily Union of September 17, 1867. Silk manufactory prospectus as herein referred to.]

Secretary Hoag introduced Rev. I. E. Dwinell, who was listened to very attentively while he read the following essay on silk culture, written by Joseph Neumann, of San Jose:

The culture and manufacture of silk has ever been one of the greatest and most prolific branches of industry on our globe. Since the time that the wise Empress Si-Sing-Chi, of China, conceived the idea of taking the precious silkworm into her parlor, and bestowing particular care upon it, this business has been increasing and improving. It has steadily kept on spreading to Persia, Turkey, Italy, France, Germany, England, and over the Atlantic to the United States of America. In its turn it has reached California, and in order to prove that it will be as profitable here as in any other part of the world, and in reference to the establishment of a silk factory in California, with which a fair commencement has been already made, I beg leave, through the favor of your Society, to lay this essay before the public. It has been said that our enterprise is premature; that we are ten years ahead of our time. Such assertions may be uttered by those whose interests are opposed to home manufacture, or by that class contented with things as they are. To such I say that a silk factory ought to have been established three or four years

ago, and I hope to prove my assertion by the following statement of facts, to which I crave the careful attention of all Californians:

First-A silk factory in California will have an indisputable and important advantage over those of the Eastern States and Europe, in consequence of our being so near to China and Japan, and having a direct steamship communication with those countries, so that we can import our raw material at less cost and in less time.

Second-The culture of silk in this State has advanced to such an extent that California bids fair to rival the silk growing countries of the Old World. We have about four hundred mulberry plantations now, which will be trebled next year; and, in a few years, we can expect to have sufficient raw material for our own manufactures, with a surplus for exportation.

Third-There is no import duty whatever on raw silk; and as the Eastern, as well as the European manufacturers have to pay the same price for it as we have, our advantage over them is evident-we can turn the raw material into a fabric before it reaches those more distant markets.

Fourth-A great deal has been said about labor. One question was: Can we obtain operatives here? It is ascertained beyond doubt that for the next twelve months we shall have more labor offering than we shall be able to employ; by the last two or three steamers several practical hands arrived and made application for work.

They had heard and read in our papers that a silk factory was being started here, and on this account had emigrated to California. As soon as it becomes known that work in that particular branch of manufacture can be obtained here, workmen will flock to our shores by hundreds. The next question is about the high price of labor. Concerning wages in Eastern factories, we are on equal footing with them, since good mechanics are as well paid there as here. The work to be done in the spinning department is generally performed by children, who are easily taught; and we have enough young ones in California whose parents will be glad to have them employed in so useful a manner. But some doubts have been expressed about our ability of competing with European labor. It is certainly true that the price of labor in Europe is far below ours. Nevertheless, our advantages more than counterbalance this drawback. For example, a silk weaver in Europe earns five dollars a week (this kind of work is every where paid for by the yard); but should he earn fifteen dollars here, we should still be able to sell below the import prices and make a handsome profit. The calculation is as follows: One yard of silken dress goods, weighing three ouncesof which a man can make six yards a day, more or less, according to the character of the silk or the skill of the workman-costs the European manufacturer, after finishing ready for market, two dollars and fifteen cents, calculating fifteen cents a yard for wages. By trebling these wages it would cost us here two dollars and forty-five cents. For a yard of silk of this quality our importers have to pay in Europe two dollars and fifty cents. To this sixty per cent. import duty, and fifteen per cent. for freight, insurance and exchange-together, seventy-five per cent., or one dollar and eighty-seven and a half cents-are to be added, which brings the cost price in San Francisco as high as four dollars and thirtyseven and a half cents. Thus it will be readily seen that we can sell such fabrics much cheaper, leaving a large margin for profit. The same proportion applies to articles of higher or lower quality and value. Fifth Sewing silk, embroidery silk, tram and organzine silk. These

descriptions of silk are to be considered as an important branch of the manufacturing business; and the Pioneer Silk Factory has already a complete set of machinery with which to prepare all varieties of these silk goods. The following statement will convince the reader that no doubt can exist as to the profit to be derived:

Sewing silks, in skeins, are selling in this market at from seven dollars to sixteen dollars per pound. Sewing silks, on bobbins or spools, such as for tailors, shoemakers, saddlers, or for use in sewing machines, sell from fourteen dollars to eighty dollars per pound. Tram and organzine are only for weavers and trimming manufacturers. The prices of these range from fourteen dollars to twenty-four dollars, according to quality and color. Embroidery silks are from ten dollars to thirteen dollars in price here. The above named articles are hardly at all imported from Europe, being chiefly manufactured in the Eastern States exclusively by women and children. The wages of the latter range from four dollars to twelve dollars a week, and I am aware that we can have even cheaper hands here. As the raw material can be laid down here from four dollars and fifty cents up to nine dollars per pound, the public may form an opinion as to the profits of the manufacturer.

It is well known that whoever has started this industrial enterprise, no matter in what part of the world, has always succeeded in making an independent fortune; such, for instance, as the silk factory in the City of Brandenburg (Prussia), where I first learned weaving, belonging to the firm of Jacob & Abraham Meyer. It was commenced in eighteen hundred and twenty-six, with a capital of, at most, six thousand thalers. This factory, when I left it in eighteen hundred and fifty-four, employed more than one thousand hands in weaving, winding soft silk, and making spools for filling. It produced from four hundred to five hundred pieces of all kinds of dress goods monthly, each piece of a length of from eighty to ninety yards. Their principal place of business is now Berlin, where they employ about two thousand hands more, in small groups of from six to fifty hands, to whom they pay higher wages on account of the factories belonging to masters with small means. The factory is now in the hands of the children and grandchildren of the first founder, and their fortune is estimated to be from six million to eight million dollars— certainly a handsome increase since eighteen hundred and twenty-six, in spite of their heavy annual losses.

The establishment of silk factories in Prussia was already a favorite scheme of Frederick the Great, and he had mulberry trees planted as early as seventeen hundred and sixty-three. Now the business is highly prosperous not only in Berlin and adjacent towns, where from fifty thousand to sixty thousand hands are employed, but also in Crefeld, Elberfeld and other parts of the kingdom.

In Switzerland the silk manufacturing business is flourishing, and ranks next to France.

The City of Vienna also has factories, in which five thousand hands are employed.

There is also a large factory in Pesth, Hungary, in a thriving condition.

Italy was the first country in the European continent where silk culture and its manufacture was introduced, and in Piedmont there is hardly a town or village which does not produce something of this article.

Let us glance at France. Is there any branch of industry which has added more to the glory and wealth of that country than the silk manu

facturing business? There is not; and this being so well known everywhere, I need not say more about it.

In regard to silk manufacturing in England, it is also notorious that at Manchester, Macclesfield, Derby, etc., thousands and thousands of bands are employed in it. Lombe, of Derby, in seventeen hundred and sixteen, disguised himself as a workman, went to Piedmont, and suc ceeded in taking drawings of the machinery for making organzine, which article up to that time was always imported into England. There are silk factories in St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Capital of Poland, and other places, too many to enumerate them here. But it will be seen from the above that there is hardly a country on the European Continent where this business does not exist. Now, let us look into the present condition of the silk manufacturing business of the United States. We can estimate, at a low rate, that between fifty and eighty thousand hands are employed in it. Take, for instance, the factories in Paterson, New Jersey:

First-Thomas Dale & Co. This factory was finished, but the machinery not quite in operation, when I visited it last year. I estimate that it contains about two hundred thousand dollars worth of machinery. It is a brick structure of four stories high. The firm must give employment at this time to from six hundred to one thousand hands.

The next in importance are Hummel & Booth, employing also several hundred people; Rile & Son, Abraham Tilt & Son, and four or five others. Besides these, there was a silk velvet association, incorporated about two years ago, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars. Their principal place of business is New York. There are large factories in Connecticut and Massachusetts. In Philadelphia we especially have to mention the factory of Hausmann & Son. It is managed on a large scale. There are also the works of Tom Harrop, John Smith and several others.

All these above named factories manufacture solely sewing silk, embroidery silks, tram and organzine, and are very little connected with weaving.

There are some factories in the City of New York, as well as in Connecticut, the principal business of which is weaving.

But we shall combine all of these separate branches of weaving, spinning and dyeing in California. None of those factories in the Eastern States have such facilities offered to them as we have in our State:

First-There is the steamship communication with China and Japan, by which we can get the raw material cheaper and quicker than any other manufacturer on the globe; and

Second-The culture of the silk worm, which has advanced to such an extent that within a few years we shall have enough of our own raw material.

The reader will see that everything said above is based upon facts, and that in any emergency we are able to manufacture silk goods considerably cheaper than they can be imported either from the Eastern States or Europe, and I am convinced that no better chance for investment was ever offered to the public than this silk manufacturing business.

I also add a report of the Committee of Judges at the State Fair held in Sacramento in September, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven.

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